Week 10 Approach Shots: CA Championship

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Phil Mickelson went 26 tries without winning a World Golf Championships event before defeating Nick Watney by one stroke at last year's World Golf Championships-CA Championship.

TV/Radio (all times ET)

TV: GOLF CHANNEL (Thu.-Fri., 2-6 p.m.) NBC (Sat. 2-6 p.m.; Sun. 3-7 p.m.) RADIO: PGA TOUR NETWORK - Sirius 209, XM 146, PGATOUR.COM (Thu.-Sat., 12-6 p.m.; Sun., 1-7 p.m.)

Weather

Scattered thunderstorms are forcast for Thursday and Friday, with a chance of rain on Sunday. Temperatures could reach the low 80s. Winds should be between 10-15 mph. Updated weather info

Key links

• Expert picks | Tee times • Rankings | Fantasy Insider • Inside the Field | Course

It didn't take long for Mickelson to win his next World Golf Championships as he captured the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai in November, the event's first year as part of the World Golf Championships series. The win moved Mickelson to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking (where he remained until Feb. 7, 2010, when Steve Stricker won the Northern Trust Open) and to No. 2 in the FedExCup standings (where he would finish the year).

Mickelson is making his first World Golf Championships appearance of the 2010 season, having skipped the Accenture Match Play Championship due to family commitments. So far this year, Mickelson's best performance is a T8 at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. He finished T45 in his first of four title defenses of the year, at the Northern Trust Open.

Mickelson on his title defense and the World Golf Championships: "I am looking forward to the World Golf Championships CA Championship, and I love the World Golf Championships events. I'm sorry I missed last week. I love them; I think they are some of our more exciting events.

"Unfortunately we had a change in plans in our treatment schedule and we had to have some treatment done next week, and it was during our family trip and so we had to move it up and miss last week.

"But I'm excited to get back to playing, and I'm really excited to getting back to Doral. It's a golf course I've always enjoyed and loved; not played as well as I would like until last year where I finally broke through for a win, and I was very excited to do so and had a great 36 hole finish there playing with Nick Watney.

"It's very cool to win these events. I didn't know how cool it would be, because these events were fairly new. But now that they have been around for almost I guess ten years now, their status continues to grow in the game, and to finally win a couple is important to my career I believe."

HOT STREAK: As a rookie on the PGA TOUR in 2006, Camilo Villegas captured the interest of local fans at the then Ford Championship at Doral after holding a share of the second-round lead with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Scott Verplank. The native of Colombia finished second that week. Shortly after the 2006 event at Doral, Villegas' popularity caused Colombian TV to pick up 30 PGA TOUR golf broadcasts in 2006. The three-time winner on the PGA TOUR in 2008 did not have as successful of a PGA TOUR campaign in 2009.

Villegas has started the 2010 season with great success, including a win last week at The Honda Classic 3rd-place finish at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and a career-low 62 during the opening round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open, where he eventually finished T8. With his victory at The Honday Classic, Villegas is now one of four players currently in their 20s with three or more PGA TOUR wins, joining six-time winner Adam Scott and three-time winners, Dustin Johnson and Sean O'Hair.

Columnists' predictions

Each week, PGATOUR.COM columnists will predict the winner. Here are their picks for The Honda Classic. Columnist Pick Comment Stan AWTREY PAUL CASEY: Seems like he's been in contention every week. Now that he's healthy, Casey appears ready to make another run at the top. Winning Doral would be a good start. Craig DOLCH JIM FURYK: He was third here last year, second in 2008 and also lost a playoff at Doral in 2003. Melanie HAUSER PAUL CASEY: Can Camilo Villegas go back-to-back? Maybe, but think this week belongs to Paul Casey, who has a hot hand and two top 10s here.

Bolton's Yahoo! selections

Fantasy columnist Rob Bolton will provide his Yahoo! picks as a starting point for you every week. Use the advice and opinion from his Power Rankings and Fantasy Insider to assist in determining lineups changes throughout each tournament. Group Starters Bench Group A Anthony Kim Vijay Singh Group B Dustin Johnson, Camilo Villegas Jim Furyk, Lucas Glover Group C Paul Casey Angel Cabrera

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HIGHEST RANK IN THE FIELD: Steve Stricker enters the CA Championship as the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking. The seven-time PGA TOUR winner is coming off the best season of his career, having captured three PGA TOUR events (Crowne Plaza Invitational, John Deere Classic, Deutsche Bank Championship); he is one of just nine players since 2000 to win three or more times in a season (Woods, Singh, Els, Love, Perry, Weir, Mickelson, Toms). Stricker has started the 2010 year off hot as well with a victory at the Northern Trust Open.

COULD HE WIN AGAIN?: Englishman Ian Poulter got his first PGA TOUR victory at the first World Golf Championships event of the season, the Accenture Match Play Championship, by defeating Paul Casey in the 36-hole final. Poulter finished runner-up at the 2006 CA Championhip, but has not finished better than T13 since the event moved to TPC Blue Monster at Doral Golf Resort & Spa in 2007. Only Tiger Woods has won consecutive World Golf Championships events.